


The Miraculous Detectives

by Vaders_Apprentice



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Detective!AU, I dont know how long this will last, No Tikki or Plagg, but hero identities are very different, civilian identities are basically the same, have some fun stuff, i have no clue, it could be seven hundred, it could be three chapters, no powers, sort of, very not cannon, vigilantes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2018-12-01 05:22:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11479494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vaders_Apprentice/pseuds/Vaders_Apprentice
Summary: Adrien Agreste has lived under the "care" of his father for too long. After the death of his mother, he decides that he must become Chat Noir, the dark vigilante of Paris.Marinette Dupain-Cheng grew up knowing that crime was wrong, and the current system cannot handle it well enough. So, she became Ladybug, the red vigilante of Paris.However, when Hawkmoth, leader of the AKUMA crime syndicate attacks, they both must work together to save Paris from his criminal acts. Now, Paris has it's two guardians against the greatest crime syndicate in France.





	1. Meet the heroes of Paris

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to thank Tumblr user @lovelysheree for the idea of this fic. They uploaded a picture which had Marinette and Adrien as detectives, and I wanted to give it a go. As I was beginning to write, I asked them for some inspiration. All credit for this idea goes to them.

Darkness. That was all he saw. Nothing but a large black void, empty of even the smallest vestige of light. Adrien sighed, and sat back. The city block that he was roaming was in the middle of a blackout, so he could not see a thing. As soon as he heard of the blackout, he suited up and dashed over to the location. He knew that The Organization was behind this. 

The Organization was a crime syndicate that had taken several people and turned them into criminals. They used a chemical, known as “Nooroo” to make the person super susceptible to suggestion. In order to get it out of the system, they had to be restrained and forced to listen to reason. Once that happened, they forgot everything that had happened. Recently, they were getting more and more common.

Adrien examined the street, and searched for any sort of movement. More than anything, he wanted _her_ to be out tonight. He didn’t know anything about her, except for the fact that she was a vigilante, like him. He had been fighting one of the criminals from The Organization, and she arrived. She had taken care of everything, and then left without a single word. Since then, he had seen her here and there, but never for very long.

A dash of movement caught his eye, and he was drawn back to the present. Adrien crept forward, and saw that his hunch was correct. There was a large man pulling a crate from the store across the street. Adrien followed discreetly, and kept to the shadows as they approached the edge of the blackout zone. As soon as they reached their destination, and Adrien had perched up onto a wall, he didn’t know whether or not he should jump for joy, or curse his bad luck. 

There, waiting by a large armored truck, was a man in a purple suit, wearing a mask. Adrien knew that this must be the leader, or at least someone in charge. None of the other criminals wore anything like this. The man examined the crate, and nodded. Out from the back of the truck, 5 men darted out and started to stow the crate. Adrien had to act fast. He jumped from the wall, and ran for the man in the suit. 7 guys were not too hard. Adrien had years of training for this. He was confident that he could take these men without difficulty.

That is, he thought that before another 5 men came from around the truck. Now, there were 12 men against Adrien. He realized that they had been waiting for him, to make an ambush. He took stock of his surroundings, and found them to be bad. They were in the middle of a darkened street, bare of anything. The masked man and the large criminal went into the truck and started the engine. The other 10 men approached, wide grins on their faces.

Adrien pulled the small silver rod from his belt, twisted the end, and flicked it. It extended into a staff, and Adrien held it in a ready position. The men all charged and made a mistake. While it was a bad idea to attack one by one, it was also a bad idea to have 10 men attack the same person. The best number would be four. One person to hold each arm, one person to hold the head, and one person to beat the shit out of the victim. 

These men attacked at once, and got in each others’ way. Adrien almost laughed, except that some of the smaller ones were being pushed aside by the larger men. As soon as they were close enough, Adrien attacked. He used his staff to break an arm, and kicked out at a knee. However, that attack left him off balance, and exposed. Another man slammed his fist into Adrien, and he flew back a few feet, landing in a heap. Groaning, he stood up, and saw that the men were taking their time, searching all around. Looking over his shoulder, Adrien realized that he was in darkness, and his black suit made him hard to see. 

Adrien turned and ran into the darkness, finding a good place to sit. He needed to collect his thoughts a little. Once he was in a good location, he turned and sat right in the middle of the street. Closing his eyes, he focused his breathing until it came slow and even. 

Adrien thought back to his first day out. He had just found out that his mother had been murdered by some lowlife criminal, and he was distraught. Against his fathers’ wishes, he ran out into the streets, looking for a place that wasn’t his house. Of course, he was mugged. However, his mugger did not anticipate the pure rage that was coursing through Adrien at the time. Before he realized it, the mugger was on the ground, unconscious. Adrien expected to feel guilty, to feel remorse. He didn’t. Instead, he felt alive, like he just did something right for once. He just took care of a mugger, and the mugger was not dead.

Going back to his house, he was met with the worried gaze of his father. Adrien just went into his room, and started planning. He made himself his staff, using a design based off of batons he had seen. Twist the end, and flick it to extend. He then assembled his costume. Black. Black as night. Silver trim. The shoes were thick, but not heavy, with metal shapes mimicking claws attached. The pants were black denim, with silver stitching. The shirt was a black button up with neon green buttons. Over it all was a black trench coat, with silver stitches and neon green highlights. Over his eyes went a black mask with green lenses over his eyes, and on his head was a headset that had been modified to look like cat ears. That way, he could listen to broadcasts as he prowled out at night. Adrien had also adopted a new name. 

Chat Noir.

Chat Noir opened his eyes, and saw the men coming at him. They were searching high and low for him, not seeing him just sitting in the road, watching. The light still came down this street, but it was to the advantage of Chat Noir now. He saw their silhouettes, but they did not see him. He got up and started to walk towards them. 

“How nice of you gentlemen to drop in! Sorry about the light, I appear to have a bulb out.!”

It was a simple tactic to distract the enemy, but it worked. The men all jumped, and searched for the source of the voice, but saw nothing. Chat had already moved to another area.

“You see, I was not expecting company tonight. I was just minding my own business when I was so rudely interrupted.”

The men all started to hone in on the voice and pulled out flashlights, but Chat was still moving. He was having fun now.

“I mean, couldn’t you have called ahead? I would have found that much more purrleasing.”

The men looked back up the street and nearly jumped out of their skins. Chat was standing right there, blocking the way. Chat ran forward, and threw his baton at a man, hitting him in the stomach. Using the hunched over man as a platform, Chat jumped onto the next man in line. He went down easily. Chat whirled back up, flinging his foot out in a kick, catching a man in the jaw. 

The other men were on him now, grabbing hold of his arms. Well, it was fun while it lasted. At least, if he survived, he could give the police some useful information. A man approached, pulling a knife from his belt. Well, maybe the police will have to do without his information. The man raised the knife and-

A crack split the air. The man with the knife stumbled back, as if the knife had decided to pull itself the other way. But Chat knew better. Around the mans’ wrist was a red line, that quickly unwound itself and flicked away. Another crack, and one of the men holding Chat fell back, clutching his arm. With one final crack, Chat was free from the men. He dashed forward, and tackled a man who was going for the figure who stood down the street a ways. 

The figure stepped forward, and the light struck it. It was _her_! Chat had only seem glimpses of her, a red streak here, maybe some black hair there, but he had never seen her this much for this long. The light was still terrible, but he knew who it was. It was the elusive Ladybug.

*.*.*

Marinette stood on the street, examining the scene before her. He had done good work, taking out 3 of them like he did, but he was still almost killed. While she still had her misgivings about him, he was still a good help to have around. Hell, he broke an arm, a knee, knocked a man out, and made it look like child’s play. But, they also nearly killed him for it. 

With a flick of her wrist, she flung her whip out, and caught a man in the leg. _He_ was next to her, now (Due to a lack of a name, she didn't know what to call him). She had taken out two men with hits to their shoulders to free him, and now this man, so there were still 4 men running at them. One of them had a staff. _His_ staff. She looked beside her, where he was standing, and saw him staring the man down, a smile growing on his face. 

It frustrated her that she didn’t know his name. Nobody knew it. He had never said it to anyone. There were speculations, but nothing certain. She might have to ask him after they were done here. On that subject…

Marinette flung out her whip, and it wrapped around the feet of one of the men, making him take an epic face-plant into the asphalt. Her partner ran forward and accosted the man with the staff. The man took a swing at his head. Without looking, he lifted his hand and caught the weapon. With his other hand, he punched upwards into the mans’ gut, hitting the solar plexus. Ouch. 

The next man was too close for a whip, so Marinette threw it aside and stepped forward. When the man threw his fist at her, she dodged it, caught the fist, and punched the man in his armpit. When he cried out, she put a foot behind his leg and twisted, giving the man no option but to fall onto the ground. With another punch, he was out. 

The last man standing was right there. He lifted up a bar that he had picked up and started swinging it at her head. At the last possible instant, a silver staff came into view, blocking it from her face. The man stepped back and was met with a staff to the head, knocking her out. 

Standing, she saw him take one more look at the scene before them, and turn to her.

“Are you OK?”

“Yes, I am fine. Thank you...” Marinette gestured for a name.

“Oh, Chat Noir.” Well, it fit with the outfit.

“Ah. Thank you, Chat Noir.”

“I think that the police might not appreciate the amount that we beat these guys up tonight.”

“I think you’re right. Did you find anything?” Marinette knew that he was out searching for a while before she had intervened. She had tracked his progress through the city, but didn't see what he did. 

“Yes, actually. Some guy in a purple suit took a crate that our recent victim stole. That was where these fine men came from.” Chat slammed the end of his staff into the ground, making it retract into a smaller rod, which he twisted and attached to his belt. 

“I see. Well, we should do this again sometime. But now, I gotta go. I have a busy day tomorrow.”

“As do I, Ladybug.”

So, he followed the news about her. That’s nice. They parted ways, both taking convoluted routes back to their respective houses. She soon arrived at the bakery, and climbed up a tree near her house to her balcony. Slipping in, she got into her pajamas, and went to bed. Going to sleep, though, was a different story. Her mind kept wandering back to where it had all started.

She was walking down the street, when she saw a mugging going on. To her immense distress, it had taken a turn for the worst, and the victim was shot and killed. The mugger turned to her, and started running towards her. She stood frozen in shock, and the mugger had grabbed her hair, and threatened her to keep quiet. 

However, something else in her woke that night. She had been training under various forms of martial arts since she was a child, and she suddenly had the desire to use those skills. In short order, the man was on the ground, and she was running off. When she got home, what had happened finally caught up with her. She sat crying for hours into the night, being careful not to wake her parents. That was when she vowed never to willingly let anyone else get hurt like that when she could stop it.

Several nights later, the answer to how she would do that came to her. She was watching the news, and the usual report of the mystery vigilante came on. While the police were searching for him, they did not oppose him at all. The only reason that they were supposed to arrest him was because that was the law. He did good work, and was widely praised throughout the city. However, Marinette saw that he was running thin, and could probably use some help. 

Marinette spent the next week making her costume. She started with the whip. Whip cracking was something that she had been doing as a hobby for years, whenever she got the chance. She was good enough now that she could hit a rock off of a stump without touching wood. She decided to use paracord, since it was easy to work with and would make a strong whip. She used mainly red, but used two black strings to give it the illusion of spots.

Next came the outfit. It was simple, just red shoes, black pants, a red button up shirt with black trim and buttons, and a red jacket of her own design, based off of a peacoat. It was made of a red cloth that was thick enough to withstand the aggression of her new pass time, and yet light enough to let her move and not get overheated. It had black sleeves, made of a stretchy material that she could move easily in, and had large black buttons down the front. On the sides were black stripes, which faded into red on the tops and bottoms. The collar was usually popped, and the bottom hit her knees. On her face sat a mask, red with black edging. With that outfit came a new name.

Ladybug.

Marinette went to sleep thinking about the other vigilante, Chat Noir. He seemed to be a really good partner tonight, both of them fighting in tandem, managing to read into each others' actions. Maybe they should consider becoming more than just two vigilantes in the same city. They should consider a partnership, especially since the attacks from The Organization had escalated. 

On the subject of The Organization, Marinette thought about all that she knew about them. It was a truly small amount of knowledge. They used some chemical to change people into criminals, and they like making life in Paris hell. That was about as much as anybody knew about them. In fact, the name that they were known by was only given to them by the media. What their agenda was, or who they were was still a mystery to everybody. 

Also, Marinette thought about the next day. It was the start of school, so she needed to try to get at least a small amount of sleep. But the next day would also bring Chloe, and that was never pleasant. Marinette almost wished that The Organization would get to Chloe, so that Marinette could beat Chloe senseless, and still be justified. Almost.

Truthfully the only thing about school that Marinette didn’t like was the fact that she never seemed very good at making friends. Sure, people at school liked her, but at the end of the day, she was still walking home alone. She had given up on saying “Maybe this year will be different” because it had never happened. Chloe had seen to that. Sure, Marinette was pleasant enough, but dare to be friends with her at the risk of Chloes’ wrath.

Marinette went to sleep thinking about her plans for the next year. She would just sit in her usual spot, take her notes, and go home without a fuss. She would not try to contend for class president, she would not seek out another friend, she would just sit and make nothing of herself. Save energy for her nights as Ladybug. 

Of course, she had no idea how wrong she was about to be. She had no idea what the universe had in store for her the next day. And, all too soon, her alarm was buzzing into her dreams. Well, time for another year to start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this seems to be a rather rocky start, this chapter does not show what will come from this fic. This chapter is mainly a "Meet the characters" chapter. The next chapter will set the tone for the rest of the fic.


	2. Heart of Stone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette has a great first day of school!! (Yay, sarcasm)
> 
> Adrien tries to go to school, but can't.
> 
> Ivan has a bad day.
> 
> Hawkmoth decides to reveal himself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, guys, this is going to be the average feel for Akuma attacks. I want to know what you think of it, I really actually need to know. If there is a negative reaction, I will decide to drop this project, since I cannot seem to get ideas for some points of it. If you do like it, I will double my efforts, and I will keep it going. Please tell me what you think.

Marinette ran to school, late as usual. She really hoped that this year would be different, but her extracurricular activities the previous night kept her up. She had also taken a lot of time figuring out what she was going to wear, since this was a new year. She decided on a black blazer over a white and pink shirt, with pink pants. She let her hair down, but packed some ribbon hair ties with her just in case. She only used them if she was in costume. She darted into the classroom, and was relieved to find that she still had a few minutes left. She took stock of the room, noticing that there was a new student, sitting where Chloe and Sabrina sat. That was going to be trouble. 

Marinette was wrong. As soon as she had set down her bag, and sat down, a hand slapped to the desk in front of her, accompanied by the worst voice that had ever graced the ears of anybody ever.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng. That is my seat.” Chloe Bourgeois was looking down at her with disdain. “Adrien is arriving today, and that” She pointed to the seat in front “is his seat. So, I’m sitting here.”

After making a tiny fuss about the seats, Marinette ceded her seat to the blond. It was better than fighting over it. Marinette now had other issues that demanded her attention anyways, such as Chat Noir. She had made an offer to team up again, and he had not shot her down. In fact, his face seemed to be giving off waves of happiness at the statement. Marinette, however, could not fully trust him. All she knew about him was that he was a vigilante, like her. And he was good at fighting. She did not know his endgame, though. 

Marinette sat next to the new girl, and smiled. “I’m Marinette.”

“Alya.” The girl held out her hand, and Marinette shook it. “I just moved to Paris. I hear that you guys have actual vigilantes! How is that? What is it like? Do you know anything about them?”

Marinette sat, her mind reeling. Alya seemed to be obsessed with the topics of the vigilantes. If she dug deep enough, she might figure out who she is sitting next to. Marinette needed a good cover for herself. Luckily, she already had one. Marinette always felt so free in the outfit, that she could walk and do things without making a mess. However, she became a mess out of the suit, which just made her clumsy. She could have trained the clumsiness out of herself, but she kept it as a cover. Nobody would suspect that the awkward, clumsy girl was truly a vigilante, fighting crime in the cover of night.

“No, nobody knows anything about them. We have tried, but everything comes up as a dead end.”

Alya only seemed more excited. “I will figure them out. I-”

Just then, there was a ruckus in the back of the room. Ivan was yelling at Kim, nearly punching him. The teacher interceded, and sent Ivan to the principals office. Marinette talked with Alya for a few more minutes, until class started. However, class had only just started, when the lights of the school went dark. An eerie voice came through the loudspeakers, making Marinette freeze. 

“Hello, Paris. I am Hawkmoth, leader of AKUMA. You know us better as “The Organization”. I am here for one purpose only. I wish to be able to do whatever I want, whenever I want. Nothing will stand in my way. To prove my devotion to reach this goal, I will send you a present to a school. I have used a chemical to make one of the students do my bidding, which will be to sew chaos. This is merely a small taste of what is to come if you resist. Without further ado, I present to you, Stoneheart!”

The voice cut out, leaving the classroom quieter than a tomb. Until someone screamed outside the door.

*.*.*

Adrien was running. He had to escape, it was his only choice! He turned, and saw that nothing was behind him. He breathed a sigh of relief, and went to the steps of the school. He groaned when he heard the sound of tires screeching. Turning, he saw Nathalie coming out of his car.

“Adrien, please, you know what your father thinks!”

“Please don’t tell him! I just want to go to school!” Adrien felt a hand grip his shoulder. He turned and saw his driver pushing him to the car. How the huge man could sneak up on him like that, Adrien had no idea. He reluctantly let the man take him home.

Adrien was sick and tired of being homeschooled. Nathalie just paced, quizzing him on things that he already knew. Adrien just gave the correct answers, and let his eyes roam over the house. It had always seemed to be too big, to fancy. His father was a fashion designer, how could he amass such a fortune that he could live like this, and not even care about the money?

Adrien was jolted out of his stupor when his father walked into the room. His father, in the same room as him! This was almost too good to be true! Gabriel Agreste stood in the doorway, staring at Adrien.

“I will not have you going to school, Adrien.”

Adrien felt his heart sink to his feet. “But dad, I-”

“No buts, Adrien. I will not have it!” And with that, he was gone. And, so was Adrien.

Adrien flung open the door to his room, and flopped onto his bed. After sitting and wondering what to do for a while, he went to his couch and turned on his TV. Just as soon as he turned on the TV, it went to an emergency broadcast, asking all civilians to remain in their homes for safety. Adrien pulled out his phone and scanned several news articles, and figured out what was going on. The school he was trying to go to was under attack! 

After reviewing the words of Hawkmoth, which had played over every public speaker system in Paris, Adrien was suiting up. He left out of the side door of his house, and ran to the school. There were reporters crowding the streets, so he went down alleys and back roads, until he arrived at his destination. The entire school was surrounded, and he could not get in without being seen. Adrien, however, had his brain on his side. The one thing that he wished was that he also had Ladybug with him, but she would also be hindered by the reporters.

Adrien made his way to the top of a nearby building, and cast about for anything that he could use. There was a set of wires that ran from the building to the top of the school, which was lower than the building occupied by the black vigilante. Adrien grabbed his baton, and using it like the handle of a zip line, slid across the wire to the roof of the school. Or, rather, right below it, into a window leading into a classroom. 

Adrien landed among a smattering of broken glass, and looked around. All around him were startled faces, staring at him. There was a girl with glasses, her eyes wide as she pulled out a phone. The seat next to her was empty, even though there was stuff on the desk. Looking around more, he saw Chloe, sitting with her eyes wide, staring at him. So, this was his future class. A slam caught his attention, and he looked at the door. Someone just left, and his entrance made them go unseen by anyone else. He stood, and ran to the door, screaming something about staying there. Adrien didn’t even know. 

Adrien went down to the ground floor, watching for anything out of the ordinary. He stepped lightly, and searched for the runaway student. Who would want to run out of the room in the middle of what could only be described as a terrorist attack? Hawkmoth has sent a message that was intended to cause fear, and then sent a criminal into the school. 

There was a sudden scream from a classroom to his left, across the courtyard. Adrien dashed to the room, and threw open the door. A massive student was holding a teacher by the arm, and was leading her out to the courtyard. Or, at least, he was trying to. Adrien blocked the way, examining what Hawkmoth had done. 

The student was big, and strong apparently. He had on a mask, which gave him the visage of a man made of stone. He was covered in a suit of full body padding, which was colored and textured to further give the impression that he was made of stone. Hawkmoth had been busy with this one. Adrien remembered that Hawkmoth had called this victim “Stoneheart”.

Stoneheart only looked at Adrien for a few seconds, then ran forward and punched him right in the chest. Adrien was sent reeling by the punch, trying to get his balance back. He knew that there was nothing behind him, so he had some room to get back on his feet. However, he ran into something.

“Seriously? He isn’t that fast. How did he hit you?”

Adrien turned and found Ladybug. He had ran straight into ladybug, who only barely managed to catch him.

“Ah, sorry. He caught me by surprise. Hawkmoth has really outdone himself this time. Look for yourself!”

Adrien gestured at the classroom, where Stoneheart was coming out, still with his hold on the teacher. Stoneheart only gave them a quick once-over, and started for the courtyard.

“He has a hostage? We can’t let him get away!” Ladybug ran forward, and wrapped her whip around the legs of the massive man. As he tripped, Adrien ran forward and grabbed the teacher from his grasp. Triumphant, he turned and set the teacher down at the outskirts of the courtyard, giving her a smile as he turned back to the fight. 

*.*.*

Marinette was really mad at this guy. Hawkmoth had really taken a great time to attack the school. It just had to be when she was in it, and unable to change. She had to take the advantage of Chat Noir coming through the window just to slip out the door and change in the bathroom. Now, she had to fight a criminal, who was wearing padded clothes that made him look and feel like stone. 

Chat arrived back at her side, and assessed the situation. Marinette looked around, and was startled to see so many students lining the edges and balcony of the courtyard. They all had phones out, taking pictures of the attack. They were in danger now. Looking out the front doors, she saw that the reporters outside were pressing in to get a video of the attack as well. There was no escape. For Stoneheart, or for them.

Marinette flicked her arm towards Ivan, grabbing one of his hands in her whip, and he merely pulled her forward, making her land right on her face. Marinette got up quickly, just in time to see Stoneheart running for her, about to run her down. Just before he reached her, she was shoved to the ground, and Stoneheart instead ran into Chat, driving them both to the ground. Marinette kicked Stoneheart off of Chat, and helped the black clad man up. They stood, facing Stoneheart, who was having trouble getting off of the ground due to his padding.

“We need a better plan of attack. This guy is much better than the usual victims. They usually don’t have gear to help them. Do you have any ideas, Ladybug?” Chat looked her in the eyes, something that spoke volumes to Marinette. This guy was determined, and already trusted her. 

“We need to get past that armor. We need a defensive, and an offensive strategy, depending on how he attacks. He usually ignores any attacks we throw at him, so that is not much of a difficulty. Just try to hit some padding off of him. As for defensive, he favors using his size against us, but that can easily be overcome. If he runs at you, get low and hit his legs. The lower you get, the better you will be. If you are near a wall, use a bullfighting technique, and dart to the side. I’ll stick to defense, since a staff is better for offense.” Marinette looked at Chat. He opened his mouth to say something, and suddenly vanished. Marinette looked and saw that he was trucked over by Stoneheart.

Chat balled himself up, and rolled out from underneath the massive shape, and popped right back up.

“Well, as I was going to say before I was so rudely interrupted, that sounds like a great plan.”

The duo stood their ground as Stoneheart stood again, and looked at Chat with murder in his eyes. Marinette flicked her whip, giving off a loud crack and getting his attention. She made a pose like she was waiting impatiently, and huffed. That seemed to rile up Stoneheart, who turned to her, and started to run at her. Marinette held up a hand to Chat, signaling him to hold back, then ran at Stoneheart. Right as she was about to get run over, she dropped down to her back, sliding between his legs as she wrapped her whip around one of his legs and spinning so she was facing the other way. She used the momentum of the run to pick herself back up and trip Stoneheart. Problem was, Stoneheart turned to her, and yanked his knees to his chest, ripping the whip from her hands. 

Stoneheart stood again, throwing the whip behind himself. Marinette stood, ready for anything. Looking around, she saw nothing of her partner. Maybe he thought that her hand signal was telling him to leave? He wouldn’t do that. He always stayed until the job was done. So where was he?

Her thoughts were cut short as Stoneheart charged again, this time going low. Marinette dropped to her stomach right before he hit, trying to use her body as something for him to trip over. It did not work at all. He kicked her right in the stomach, sending her skidding backwards, slamming into a wall. She looked back, seeing Stoneheart walking towards her, taking his time. He knew that she was in no position to fight back. She was helpless before him. He was taking steps towards her, attention focused right on her. He stepped next to the shadows of a column…

… and a pole uppercut him in the chin, knocking the helmet off. A familiar face stared back at her, rage twisting his features.

“Ivan...” Marinette couldn’t believe it. She knew Ivan! He would never be a part of this. He wouldn’t hurt a fly!

“Ladybug! He is under the effects of a drug! Don’t hurt him, he is just another victim!”

A drug. That explained it. He was under the influence of a drug, making him more angry and making him want to fight. She could work with that. Before she could do anything, Chat brought his baton down onto his head, taking Ivan to his knees. It was obviously just a hit meant to knock him down, not to hurt. 

“Ladybug, you have to talk to him, make him see reason! Talk his mind into fighting the drug!”

Marinette ran forward and grabbed Ivan by the padding in front, forcing him to look at her.

“Ivan! Look at me! You are better than this! You can fight this! Look at this, you can’t keep doing this!” Marinette kept talking to him, forcing him to see what he was doing, and he slowly came out of it. 

“Wait, what? What is going on? What am I wearing?” Ivan looked around, confused. 

“The drug makes the user forget what they did when under the influence.” Chat walked up next to her, helping Ivan to his feet. “What you did is not your fault. You were not in control of yourself.”

Ivan quickly got the padding off, and ran to a bathroom. Marinette stood, and looked at the crowd near them. Everything was silent for a bit, then everyone burst into applause. The reporters all surged forward, and tried getting into their faces. Chat stepped forward. 

“What happened here is not the fault of that boy. He was under the influence of a drug known as “Nooroo”. It targets the chemicals effecting emotion, making them more severe. It was developed as a way to make people feel better, but it has a side effect if used with negative emotions, it makes the person completely lose control of the targeted emotion. It is also laced with a drug to make the person more susceptible to outside influence. Anything that the victims do is not to be blamed on the person, but on Hawkmoth.” Marinette walked forward, cutting Chat off.

“And, while on that subject, I have something to say to Hawkmoth, and AKUMA. We will not hide away in fear. We will not stop fighting. And we will fight. We will fight against the fear that you intend to sew throughout Paris. You will not win. Not while I have any say in the matter, or while anyone else does. I will fight to the last fiber of my being, and I know that I will not be alone. I will not back down, I will not bow down. I will tear down everything that you are working to build, and I will defend Paris. While you may give some fear to the citizens, I will be there to stop you. If you attack a school, I will defend them. If you send someone to destroy a monument, I will be there to stop you. If you try to give fear to Paris, I will be there to give people hope. You will not win. Ladybug and Chat Noir will stop you.”

With that, Marinette turned and walked away. As soon as she was out of sight of everyone, she ducked into a corner and took off her outfit, stashing it in the bottom of her backpack, which she kept in her locker under the pretense that it was used for gym clothes. She pulled her hair out of the pigtails she used when she was her alter ego, and walked back into the school without being seen. 

As soon as she re-entered her classroom, she was met with quite the sight. The entire classroom was bustling with movement, people showing videos to each other, and yelling. Alya immediately grabbed her arm, pulling her to her seat.

“Check this out!! I got a great video of the fight! Check out the sudden hit from the black jacket guy! He saved the red lady right in time! But her fighting was much more impressive, and her speech at the end was amazing!! check it out!! I am totally going to make a blog about these two, I just need a name!! Oh, I know, the Ladyblog!! It’s just like her name!!”

Marinette spent the next few minutes watching herself fight Ivan and listening to the excited Alya, until it was announced that school was canceled due to the attack. Marinette walked home, wondering what Chat Noir was up to.

*.*.*

Adrien sat back as he watched the news report. He examined the fight, trying to see what he could. All that he saw was that Ladybug was a magnificent fighter, and Stoneheart just ran at them, trying to grab or crush them. Nothing to be gained from that. He listened to the speech again, marveling at how she managed to give hope with just words, after Hawkmoth made true on his word to give fear to the citizens of Paris. Adrien couldn’t help but stare at her, watching her confidently interrupt his boring speech about Nooroo, and give off waves of hope.

“She is amazing.” Adrien turned off his computer, and started on the homework that Nathalie had given him. The only thing that he could think of was what Ladybug was doing right then.


	3. my lady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien goes to public school and meets Marinette. 
> 
> Marinette makes a dangerous mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aha!! another chapter!!!

It was several weeks after the Stoneheart incident, and AKUMA victims were commonplace. The police force of Paris had finally come to accept the help of Ladybug and Chat Noir, and even had a system in place for them. Whenever there was an AKUMA attack, there was an alarm sent to all phones in Paris, which Ladybug and Chat Noir responded to within a few minutes. They were even called when the police were able to take care of the attack, since the duo was well known for their ability to find clues at the sites of the attacks. They were practically detectives, well renowned for their ability to crack some of the tougher cases. Their reputation was solidified when they figured out the situation with an AKUMA that only ever attacked when nobody was there to witness. Even the top detectives were impressed with the speed that they found the clues at the locations. Soon, Ladybug and Chat Noir were the two to go to when you had an issue, referenced as the modern Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. However, there was still a level of distrust. How could you trust people, when you don’t even know who they are?

None of these thoughts were in the front of Adriens’ mind. It had been several weeks, but he finally managed to get his father to let him go to school. He was riding in the backseat, nervously tapping the strap of his bag. He had never been to school before, he had no idea how to act. The only reason that he wanted to go was to get some friends who weren’t Chloe, but he had no idea how to do that. In fact, the friendship that he had with Chloe was strained as it was. She was upset that he did not appear at school for a while, no matter how much he tried to explain his reasons. She was now ignoring all of his texts and calls. He was now on his own, with no idea what to do.

Once the car had stopped, he got out. As soon as his foot was on the ground, there were screams and calls of his name. Great, this school was filled with a bunch of fans. He pulled out a pen that he had for this very eventuality, and started the process of signing the pictures that people had. He made his way to his classroom, hoping that it would be empty, but there was no such luck. It was already full, and the only empty seat was in the front, next to a boy with headphones around his neck. He found Chloe, sitting in the desk to the right of his, and she was glaring at the desk behind his, where there was a raven-haired girl smiling smugly to herself. In the seat next to her sat a red headed girl, who was typing away on her phone, looking up only to show the other girl something. 

Adrien sat in the seat and held out his hand to the boy next to him. “Hello, I’m Adrien!”

“Nino” the boy took his hand and shook. 

Adrien and Nino sat and talked about each other for a few minutes, waiting for the teacher. Adrien was delighted to know that Nino didn’t care that he was famous, Nino only cared that he was a nice guy. There was something familiar around him, but he couldn’t lay a finger on it. The class was actually even more boring than his home schooling, but Adrien didn’t care. He had at least one more friend, and he was on a mission to get more.

As soon as lunch came, Adrien and Nino were walking out of the door, talking about the people to be friends with, which sounded like everyone except Chloe. 

“Rose is great, and she is totally into Juleka. She denies it, but we all already know. Juleka is awesome, if a bit superstitious. Ivan, even though he was a total badass when he was drugged, is really very kind. Mylene and Ivan have a thing going. There is also a new girl, Alya, who runs the Ladyblog. She sits right behind me. The person that you must be friends with, though, is Marinette. She is the dark-haired girl behind you. She is cute, and adorable. She is the perfect person to be friends with. Chloe hates her, though. I can’t tell you why, everyone else loves her. She has been mostly friendless, though, she just keeps to herself most of the time. There she is!” Nino dragged him over to the two girls who sat behind them. 

They sat and talked, but Marinette seemed more interested in her sketchbook to listen much. Adrien looked at what she was drawing, and felt his eyes go wide. It was filled with gorgeous fashion designs. While Nino and Alya were deep in conversation about Ladybug and Chat Noir, Adrien poked her shoulder. Marinette gave a start and looked up at him.

“Those are really good designs.” Adrien gestured to the sketchbook.

“Oh, thank you. I don’t think that we have met. I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” She held out her hand.

“Adrien Agreste.” He took her hand, and felt her freeze.

“Son of Gabriel Agreste, head of Agreste Fashion?” She looked at him with wide eyes. Adrien hoped that she was not just another fan girl who was going to ask for autographs.

“The very same.” Marinette pulled her hand back, blushing.

“Oh, I didn’t know that you were coming to our school. I love Agreste fashion!” she tapped her pencil against her sketchbook, obviously nervous.

“Don’t worry, I’m not as impressive as he is. I’m just the model for his designs.” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, preparing for the inevitable. It didn’t come. 

“Ah. Well, welcome to our humble school! I hope you enjoy it!” Marinette seemed to treat him just like everybody else, which he welcomed. 

“Thank you! I-” a commotion drew both of their gazes. Chloe was talking to another student, who looked like they were about to cry.

“I’ll be right back.” Marinette stood, her voice coming out in a low growl. She walked over to Chloe, who looked back in disdain. Adrien couldn’t believe this. Chloe, making someone want to cry, and making an allegedly friendly girl sound like she was out for blood? That didn’t make sense. The Chloe he knew was nice to everyone!

Marinette and Chloe talked for a few minutes until Chloe huffed and walked away, clearly irritated. Marinette walked back, a scowl on her face.

“What was that? Why was Chloe so upset?” Adrien was slightly scared at the expression on Marinette. It was too similar to the look that Ladybug gave during some of their fights. 

“It was just Chloe being Chloe.”

“How did you make her leave?”

“I just redirected her attention to me and then made her bored. She loves making my life miserable, I’ve just gotten used to it. I was going to just roll over and take it this year, since I want to avoid the drama, but I guess that I just can’t.”

Adrien decided that he wasn’t going to mention that Chloe liked talking about the “really annoying girl in class that he would surely hate”. Instead, he got the conversation back onto designing, and found out that she knew quite a lot about designing. She was going through the pages, showing him all of her designs, and what they entailed. Adrien was fascinated. This was more than a passtime for her, this was something that she truly enjoyed doing. He was about to mention it, when she turned the page again, and revealed a design of Ladybugs’ costume. There was something about it that drew his attention, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

Class had started, and was well under way when he realized what it was. Marinette dated all of her designs, and the Ladybug design was no different. The date on the design that perfectly captured every detail of Ladybugs’ outfit was several weeks before the first appearance of Ladybug.

*.*.*

Marinette was having a very good day. There was an akuma attack the previous night, but it was really easy to take care of. That one had an affinity for bubblegum, and was tracked using the wrappers that it left lying around Paris. It was quick, and she managed a full night of sleep. 

Not only that, but when she got to class, the new student, Adrien, talked to her of his own free will!! Of course, it was after an altercation with Chloe, but that girl had stopped ruining days a few years ago. Now, she was just a minor annoyance that would not go away, like a persistant fly. Or a pesky bee.

Now, she was doodling. Adrien had seen the Ladybug design, but hadn’t commented on it, much to the relief of Marinette. She didn’t want to have to lie on the spot. Even though she was a crime-fighting vigilante, she still didn’t like lying. 

Marinette doodled the costume of Chat Noir, in a detail that would make anyone suspicious. However, nobody really payed any attention to her. She just stayed in the shadows, and liked it there. There was a small complication, though. She wanted to remain anonymous, but Adrien was really cute. She thought about his face when she talked about designing, and nearly gave herself an aneurysm. His face was so curious, like he had never seen anything like it before. It was a hungry expression, filled with want to know more. Maybe she would become friends with him and teach him some more.

The lunch bell rang, sending the students outside to the courtyard. Alya grabbed Marinette and Nino, who grabbed Adrien, and the four walked out the doors.

“Nino, who is this? A new student?” Alya seemed to finally notice Adrien when the reached the bottom of the steps. 

“Yeah, this is my new bro, Adrien. He is new here, and is looking for some friends other than Chloe.”

Marinette stopped. Adrien was friends with Chloe? Willingly? Was he like Sabrina, and just acted out of fear, or was he like Chloe, and was actually just a jackass? She would just have to find out, and keep an eye on Adrien. Something about him looked familiar…

Marinette stumbled when they stepped off of the curb and onto the crosswalk, flailing for something to grab onto. Before she knew it, something grabbed her waist, and she was righted. Adrien looked at her skeptically, but made no comment. Maybe he wasn’t like Chloe. She would have let Marinette fall. 

They walked to a cafe, and sat on an outside table. They talked about Ladybug and Chat Noir, telling stories about what they had seen. Adrien seemed to be a massive fan of Ladybug, praising her, while he sort of ignored the existence of Chat Noir. Marinette started a story about the bubblegum akuma from the previous night, talking like she was watching from her window. Nobody saw the final fight, so they didn’t know that it took place over several blocks, rather than being contained in the intersection like Marinette said. Hopefully, nobody really knew that it also took place far from her home.

Adrien watched her tell the story with a rapt attention, his gaze never leaving her eyes. 

“Where do you live?” Adrien asked when Marinette finished. “I just wanted to know where the attack took place.”

“I live above a bakery, a short distance from the school.” Marinette felt that she was safe in her story. She had seen nobody even look out a window during the fight. However, the look Adrien gave her made her uneasy. Why was he staring at her like that?

Lunch ended, and the four friends walked back to the school. Alya and Nino walked on ahead, and Adrien grabbed Marinette by the arm and pulled her back to where the blissfully unaware duo ahead of them would not hear.

“I would not tell stories like that, my lady. Someone might get suspicious.”

Marinette had no idea what that was supposed to mean, and before she could ask, Adrien let go of her arm and caught up to Alya and Nino.

Well, that was odd.

Later that night, Marinette got an akuma alert on her phone. She had thought about all of the possibilities of the comment that Adrien made, since it came out of nowhere, and was not paying any attention. There was also a derby competition at her school, led by none other than Gabriel Agreste. She needed to make a good impression. As it was, it took a while for it to sink in that she was needed. She quickly got her clothes from her hidden area, and went down the tree to the ground below. The alert placed the akuma two blocks from her house, so she made it there in short order. Of course, it was a bank. 

Chat Noir was already there and examining the scene with a keen gaze. He looked up when he saw her approaching. “Hey, Ladybug. Here, we have a classic robbery. However, and nobody believes me when I say this, nothing was stolen. Here, look at the vault...”

They examined the scene, and Marinette got the same conclusion. Nothing was stolen. The vault was wide open, but everything was placed neatly on the shelves, nothing disturbed. Not even the dust by the money stacks. Marinette looked around, and saw a small disturbance in the dust by a stack. Two stacks that used to be neatly stacked side by side were askew, like something small had been placed between them. Upon further inspection, Marinette found that her suspicion was right. There was a small… speaker?

Marinette brought it outside to show Chat, and it started to go off shrilly in her hands. Pigeons flew in from all around, pecking at the noise. 

“What the hell is that?” Chat walked up to it, smacked it into the ground, and smashed it with his baton, silencing it.

“That was between two stacks of money in the vault. I suppose that bringing it out triggered it.”

“And what if it were a bomb, set to go off when it was triggered, rather than just making pigeons fly at us?” An officer walked up, scowling. “The first rule of any crime scene is not to touch anything.”

“Well, the whole point of being here is to gather evidence. I have gloves, and Chat has bags in his pockets. I was collecting it for evidence. It was obviously not a bomb, it was just a small speaker. I thought that it was going to be used to talk to us, or maybe just confuse us from inside the vault.”

The officer gave her a look, then shrugged and walked away. Marinette just scowled for a second, and started to walk out of the door. Chat had on a grin that she didn’t like too much as he caught up with her. 

“Where are we going, my lady?”

“We are going to investigate...” Marinette stopped. _‘My lady?’_ she remembered something she had heard from earlier in the day. _‘I would not tell stories like that, my lady. Someone might get suspicious’_. She gave Chat a stern look when he looked back at her. “What did you just call me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the quickest reveal that i could have written. However, I need them to know who each other is in order to keep this story moving. If you guys are sick of the poorly written fic I have going on here, let me know and I will see what I can do.


	4. Mr. Pigeon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat and Ladybug have a heart to heart
> 
> Adrien and MArinette grow closer
> 
> Mr. Pigeon is made fun of. A lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, and welcome to another entry of the story!! Hope you enjoy!!

Marinettes’ mind was reeling. Chat Noir, the person who she had known for only a short time had just called her “My Lady”, which was by no means unique. However, earlier that day, Adrien had just called her, as Marinette, “My Lady”. Did that mean that they were the same person? Adrien calling her that was definitely strange, and Chat saying it for the first time here was likely more than just coincidence. Marinette had to figure it out once and for all. 

She and Chat went down the street, away from the cops, discussing the events in the bank. No money was taken, just that small speaker was left, likely to bring in a bunch of pigeons. While they walked, Marinette studied Chats’ face and movements. Chat moved with a certain grace that seemed natural to him, like he had spent years practicing in high end events. He also acted with a certain brashness that would be largely frowned upon in high society.

His face was more revealing, though. He had the same jawline as Adrien, and the same basic shape of the face. His hair was the same shade, and the same style. He was just as tall and had the same boddy build as Adrien. Marinette stopped, staring at Chats’ back.

“If I were to say Adrien, what would you say?”

Chat turned around and looked into her eyes. A grin slowly grew upon his face.

“I would say that it took you long enough, Mari.”

Marinette felt her heart start to beat frantically against her chest. “How did you figure it out?”

“The story that you told earlier today, about the fight, was wrong. It was nowhere near your house, it was several blocks over. The only way that you would know the details of the fight would be if you were somehow there, which you adamantly refused to. So, that meant that you lied. After that, it was pretty easy to figure out.”

Marinette felt a wave of relief run through her. So, she hadn’t made a mistake and outed herself to the entire world.

“But it all started when I saw the design of your costume in your sketchbook. You see, you date all of your sketches, and that one was dated well before the first sighting of Ladybug. You should probably get rid of that particular sketch.” Chat gave her a knowing look. “A certain investigative friend might take it upon herself to see what you sketch in your free time.”

Marinette nodded and started walking again. They were about to round the corner when there was a commotion behind them. They turned and saw that there was a crowd of pigeons flocking around the police cars. Among the pandemonium was the same noise that came out of the little speaker, but louder. It seemed like every pigeon in Paris was answering the call. Marinette turned to Chat and nodded. They made their way back into the maelstrom of birds, and tried to find the source of the noise. After several minutes, Marinette found the speaker under the flashing lights of a car, and smashed it. It was significantly bigger than the last one, but it broke all the same. 

“Is anyone hurt?” Chat stepped to the police chief.

“No, just some minor scratches and lots of pigeon poop everywhere. Where did that come from?”

Marinette shrugged, and started away. “I need to get back to my house, I have some things to take care of.”

Chat was following shortly, catching up to her. “So, any plans for my fathers’ design competition?”

Marinette shook her head. “Not yet, I didn’t quite have the time to start sketching. But I have some ideas to try out.”

“So, what will we do at school tomorrow, now that we know who we are?”

Marinette shrugged. “Well, I suppose that we will have to become a good team at school, too, but I don’t want to think about that right now. Right now, I’m going to go home and scream into a pillow.”

Chat nodded and started down a separate road, down to his house. Marinette followed suit down her own road, to her house. She had gotten very good at climbing the tree to her balcony, and was soon in her room, dressed in her pajamas. Then, just as she had told Chat, she was burying her face in her pillow, screaming her lungs out.

*.*.*

Adrien rode to school, thinking about how he should act around Marinette now. The friend dynamic between them had always been tense, since he was the “New Kid”, and he sorta just bumped into the group. He figured that he would have to read off of what Marinette did, and play off of her actions. However, he did not account for what she had in store for him that day. 

As soon as he stepped out of his car, Marinette greeted him with a book in her hands. “Hello, Adrien. You left this at my house yesterday when you came over to study.”

Adrien didn’t know what plan she had come up with, but he accepted the book and thanked her. Alya and Nino walked up to them, and they started to the classroom. Marinette stayed by his side, rather than by Alya as she normally did. Adrien started to catch on to what Marinette planned. 

“Marinette, I don’t think that Alya will notice that you shifted positions like you did.”

Marinette gave him a devilish grin. “Oh, she noticed alright. And, us talking like this will make it irresistible for her.”

“Will make what irresistible?”

Marinette looked back forward, adopting a serious face. “This.”

Suddenly, Alya whirled around, looking at the two of them. “OK, what is this about? You two barely spoke before, and now you two are suddenly all chummy with each other?”

Adrien didn’t know what to think. How did Marinette guess it so accurately? He had figured out that her plan was to start acting a little more forward with him until they noticed, and then she would say that they had talked during their study group and became closer friends, but he didn’t think that Alya would catch on this quickly. 

Marinette shrugged. “Well, we...” Marinette went into a discussion about the fabricated story, giving Adrien enough details about what to say when he was questioned. Adrien knew all about what sort of signals Marinette could give, and could rely on small gestures and actions to know what to do in a fight, but for the life of him, he could not figure out anything from Alya.

The interrogation moved to the classroom, and lasted all the way til the bell for school to start. All throughout the day, Adrien thought back to Marinette. When he figured out who she was, he could barely find simiilarities between Ladybug, the daring, brave, cunning warrior that he knew, and Marinette, the clumsy, small, quiet girl behind him in class. But, when he thought more on it, he saw the similarities. Marinette was a headstrong person who took nothing from anyone, and Ladybug had expressed a small amount of fear in some situations. Adrien merged the two together in his mind, and he felt that he understood her much better. Marinette refused to let her Ladybug side show, since it might give her away, and Ladybug didn’t let her youthful fears get in her way, since it would show an exploitable weakness. Now that Adrien knew the two of them, he could make Marinette and Ladybug merge into a new entity, one that he understood with complete knowledge. 

Adrien thought about it, and found that he was liking this new image of Ladybug. He had always admired her courage and cunning, but it also made her somehow beyond human. Now that he had the other side of that, it made her more human, more able to be reached. However, Adrien had one little issue. He had no idea what to do from that realization. 

Adrien was just thinking of available actions when the door burst open, and a man stepped through, dressed in a ridiculous outfit. It was pink and white, with a hood that hugged his face tightly. He looked around the classroom with eyes that seemed legitimately crazy.

“I am Mr. Pigeon, and you will fear the birds!!”

Adrien was about to laugh at how stupid that line was, when Mr. Pigeon threw a small object into the room. Adrien had just identified it as one of the speakers from the night before when it went off, summoning a cloud of pigeons into the classroom. Adrien tried to fight his way through the pigeons, but it seemed like there was a solid mass in front of him. He could not get through, and if he coul dot get out to the locker room, he could not become Chat Noir. And, Marinette would not be able to become Ladybug if she could not get out. Adrien could see no way out of this situation. Nino was also fighting off the pigeons, so Adrien grumbled to himself.

“Great. Months of fighting, and I get taken down by fucking pigeons.”

*.*.*

Marinette was barely holding in laughter. Alya and Nino were too busy fighting off pigeons to hear but she clearly heard what Adrien had said. She saw that the pigeons were located more in the center of the room, so she grabbed Adrien by the collar and just about threw him to the edge of the room. He followed, and they made it out the door. They booked it to the locker room, and quickly changed into their respective clothes. 

Marinette flew back into the classroom, and noticed that it was already quiet. Someone had already broken the speaker. However, pigeons were everywhere in the room. They all sat on desks and shelves, or roamed the floor, pecking at this and that. Marinette did a small flick of her whip, frightening all of the pigeons out of the window. Closing it, Marinette turned to the class. “Did anyone see where he went?”

Nobody said anything, so Marinette and Chat went out the door. They climbed onto the roof of the school so they could have some privacy, and watched the news as it followed the attacks. They managed to find a pattern in the attacks, and immediately went to the next likely target. As they went, someone finally sent the akuma alert to their phones. 

They arrived at the location, and set up their stances. If their math was correct, they had about 2 minutes to figure this out. 

“We have to get the pink guy before he throws a speaker here.” Chat looked pointedly at the place they were defending. It was, of course, a daycare. Pigeons acting like that would terrify the children. Marinette slowly started to put a plan together in her mind. 

There was a whistling sound, like something small, and oddly shaped flying through the air, and Chat snatched something out of the air. He held up a small speaker before slamming it into the ground. Another one followed, and Chat used his baton to slam it away, shattering the small speaker. 

Marinette watched as “Mr. Pigeon” walked around a corner and advanced to them.

“Hello, cat boy and bug girl.”

Chat started to laugh. “Cat boy? Bug girl? Seriously?”

Marinette laughed as well. “Yeah. That’s coming from Pink Guy.”

They laughed all the harder. Pink Guy apparently thought that this meant that they weren’t paying attention, and he tried to throw another speaker, but Marinette flicked her whip at him, having it crack a foot from his nose. Pink Guy froze. 

“Now, Pink Guy-”

“IT’S MR. PIGEON!!”

“Now, Pink Pigeon, what would the children think if you attacked them with pigeons?”

Pigeon man looked defiantly back at Marinette. “They would learn to respect them.”

“They would learn to fear them. And what to people do with things that they fear? They attack them. They hurt them. Do you want that for your pigeons?”

Pink Pigeon Man of Doom looked down. “I guess not.”

Marinette shared a look with Chat. He looked back, and suddenly gave a massive sneeze. “Sorry, allergies. I’m allergic to feathers. Once I saw that we were dealing with birds, I took some medicine. I guess that it finally wore off.”

Marinette smiled, and turned back to the man on the ground.

“Where am I? Wha- Ladybug? Chat Noir? What are you doing here? Oh, no, was I made to be an Akuma?”

Marinette stared at the man. Was it truly this easy? Did they seriously turn the Akuma victim back this easily? Wow.

The man took off the clothes he had on while the police ran up with blankets to cover him with. Thanking the two heroes, they escorted the man to a car so they could escort him home.

Marinette gave Chat a sly smile. “I think that I have an inspiration for my hat, now.”

Chat saw what she was planning, and blanched. “Oh, God, Mari. If you dare…”

*.*.*

Adrien huffed as he walked into the photoshoot, wearing the hat that Marinette made. Of course, she had to include a feather with the design. Of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it is short compared to the other chapters. Mr. Pigeon just could not last very long in the fight. I tried, but it just didn't happen.
> 
> I can say that "Great. Months of fighting, and I get taken down by fucking pigeons" is now my favorite line that I have written in this fic.


	5. Dangerous situations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Adrien find themselves in the middle of the most dangerous situation that they have ever been in... but there's something missing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PEW PEW PEW!!!! That's my angst gun.

Adrien woke up, a feeling of happiness filling his stomach. It was his birthday!! He stood, a feeling of happiness rushing through him. He went to his phone to see if he had any notifications, and his heart fell. There was an AKUMA alert active. Apparently, some guy was robbing electronics stores, and taking speakers and turntables and such. Adrien huffed a laugh. This akuma was right up Ninos’ alley. 

Adrien walked out of his room, and saw his father waiting at the end of the hall.

“I just had a conversation with your friend, Nino.” The word “friend” was spoken derisively. “He asked if you could have a party. Did you have anything to do with this?”

Adrien felt his heart sink. He had a feeling of who the akuma victim was now. “No, father. He came of his own free will.”

His father nodded and walked away. Adrien mumbled to himself. “Thanks for saying happy birthday.”

Adrien was about to exit his house, when his phone started to ring. Answering, he was met with a roaring noise, like a large crowd. Marinettes’ voice came through. “Adrien, don’t come out your front doors. Nino was akumatized, and is holding a massive party outside. He is holding the entire class hostage, and has threatened every adult nearby to stay away if they want the children to live.”

Adrien felt his heart sink to his stomach. “OK. I’ll be out soon, just dressed for the occasion.”

Adrien hung up the phone and dashed into his room for one of the outfits he kept around. After he was done changing, he went to his window. He looked at the drop, and stiffened his resolve. He had to get out somehow, right?

Adrien jumped out, and rolled when he hit the ground. His feet still stung, and his breath whooshed out when he hit the ground, but he came out of it alright. He approached the front of his house, and was met with a party, filled with teenagers who obviously didn’t want to be there. He looked up and saw Ladybug crouching down near the refreshment table on the other side of the courtyard. She made a few hand gestures and Adrien nodded. He jumped down, and started dancing among the crowd, saying “Wow, this is a great party!! Who’s the lucky birthday boy?”

Adrien looked at the akuma and nearly burst out laughing. Nino looked absolutely ridiculous. He was in a red rubbery outfit, with a big… thing coming out of the top of his head. On his back was a pack with a hose coming out of it. When Nino saw Adrien, he aimed the hose and a bubble came out, filled with something cloudy. Rose jumped in front of him, taking the bubble for him. When the gas in the bubble went over her, she fell asleep on the spot.

Adrien looked back at Nino. “Bro, that was so not cool.”

Adrien saw Ladybug sneak up behind the bubbler, and loop her whip around the hose without Nino noticing. She nodded, and Adrien stepped closer. “Hey, you should change the music. This is getting a little boring.”

Ninos’ face twisted in rage, and he aimed the hose again. Or, rather, he tried to. Ladybug held the hose with her whip, preventing him from aiming it. With a big tug, she yanked it out of his hands. It suddenly started to spew bubbles everywhere, knocking people unconscious left and right. 

“It was rigged backwards!! He holds the valve closed, rather than opening it!!” Ladybug dodged the bubbles, but she was being overrun. Adrien grabbed his baton, extended it, and grabbed the hose. When the nozzle came into his hand, he closed the valve. Ladybug barely evaded one last bubble, then tackled Nino. 

The two of them crashed to the floor, rolling halfway across the courtyard until they came to a stop. Ladybug ended up on top, and was whispering into Ninos’ ear. Eventually, Nino stopped struggling and rubbed his eyes. “What am I doing here?”

Adrien grinned, happy that they didn’t have to fight the akuma very much. He ran around the corner of his house and changed back into his Adrien clothes, and ran back to the courtyard. “What did I miss?”

*.*.*

Marinette walked next to Adrien as they went to school. “That was a very easy akuma today, don’t you think?”

Adrien nodded. “That was definitely strange. I almost expected him to lead the battle away, but as soon as he lost the ability to make bubbles, he was a goner.”

“Do you think that AKUMA is running out of ideas?”

Adrien shook his head. “More likely that Nino somehow pissed them off and they retaliated.”

Marinette nodded. It made sense, it was too easy. “Maybe they were planning him as a distraction, and they are going to hit something bigger later.”

Adrien nodded again. “Or they already hit it, and disguised it as a regular crime, rather than an akuma attack, so we wouldn’t investigate.”

Marinette pulled out her phone, looking around at the news. “There are no new stories out about any sort of robberies. Just some suspicious activity at the train station.”

Adrien exhaled as she finished, apparently glad that there wasn’t something more. 

They sat in class until the ground shook violently. The class all went underneath their desks, and pulled out their phones. What Marinette saw made her heart shake more violently than the ground. The train station that had suspicious activity had exploded.

School was canceled, so Adrien and Marinette took the opportunity to go to the station. They were greeted by a police chief who was red in the face.

“WHERE WERE YOU TWO?”

Chat stepped forward. “We were taking care of business. At what time of day are you referring?”

“WHEN THE BOMB WENT OFF!”

“Ah. That would be when we were in schoo-”

Marinettee slapped her hand to his mouth. “We were busy in a way that we could not get out of it. We came as soon as we could.”

The chief stared at Chat for a few seconds before nodding, the fire mostly gone from his stance. “I will escort you in.”

They walked in, examining the place. What Marinette saw made her stomach sick. There were bodies covered in blankets everywhere, and the station was blackened and destroyed. The injured were already moved out, and cops were taking pictures. 

“We have yet to find where the bomb went off. We only just got the place covered up. It’s probably a good thing that you did not come before. It was… messy.”

Marinette and Chat nodded and examined the station. It was a station that Marinette went to often, and she was very familiar with the look that it was supposed to have.

“The bomb went off there.” Marinette pointed to a place near the edge of the platform. “Look at the damage. It goes deeper into the walls and ceiling, and the edge is rougher. Also, the tracks are more distorted in that area.”

The chief looked skeptical. “Why would they set it off there, rather than in the middle?”

Marinette shrugged. “I don’t know. In fact, I am only guessing from the evidence present that the bomb went off there. I would still have the experts come and look.”

Chat summoned them over to him. He was looking at the wall, his hand on his chin. On the wall was a smattering of chips and holes. “What do you make of this?” Chat pointed to a wide hole with a piece of metal in it. 

Marinette looked closer. “I don’t recognize that texture of metal down here. It doesn’t match the color or smoothness of the rails or the benches. Chief?”

The chief of police was already pulling out a pair of pliers and a bag. He wrenched the piece of metal from the wall and put it in the bag, nodding his thanks.

*.*.*

Police Chief Thomas walked away from Ladybug and Chat Noir. He was impressed by how they managed to solve different issues so fast. Other detectives were spiteful, thinking that they were just trying to look impressive, but Thomas was impressed. He walked to another detective and showed him the evidence.

“It’s about time they showed up. Although, it is interesting to see how they act here. Ladybug keeps looking at the bodies like they are still uncovered. And Chat Noir is staying to the outsides of the room.”

Thomas looked the detective in the eyes. “Don’t think too badly of them. I just found something out. They are no more than children. Chat Noir let slip that they were at school when the bomb went off.”

The detective looked back at the two vigilantes, shock evident on his face. “Do you think that we should stop them? For their safety?”

Thomas closed his eyes. “No, I don’t think so. Maybe if we knew earlier, I would say yes, but they are now a symbol of hope. We just need to make sure that they have backup if they need it. And, with this bombing, I think they will need us.”

The detective nodded solemnly. 

*.*.*

Marinette walked back to her house with Adrien. She could not get the look of the bodies out of her head, the way that they looked with the blankets over them, and how they must have looked under the cloth. 

Adrien held her shoulders with his arm, comforting her, but she knew that he was also haunted by the sight. 

“This must be a really fun birthday for you, huh?”

Adrien nodded. “More eventful than usual. Usually, it ends up just being me wandering around my house alone.”

Marinette looked down. “Do you think that you could stay at my house for a while?”

Adrien nodded. They still had to find out what they could about the bombing, but they needed to clear their heads. They sat in the living room, drinking tea, and staring into their respective thoughts. Marinette thought of what it must have been like to be there at the time of the explosion. The screams ran through her mind, making her head hurt. She closed her eyes tight and leaned into Adrien, who put his arm around her. She curled up and realized that she was shaking, tears coming out of her eyes. It was lucky that her parents were out running errands, or they would have something to say about this situation. 

Marinette was suddenly thrown to the floor when the house shook. It was very similar to the experience at school. Adrien flung himself on top of her, protecting her from anything that might have fallen. Marinette got back up, her eyes wide. “Another bombing? What are they up to?”

Adrien got off of her, and grabbed his phone. “This time, it was a store, but it was closed for remodeling. No injuries or casualties.”

Marinette shot up and grabbed a map that she had. She looked at the address on the phone and put a dot on the map. She put another dot on the map and connected them using a ruler, noting that it followed the same street. She extended the line and measured the distance between the dots. She placed down another dot the same distance away, and her breath caught. It was the cafe right across the street from the bakery!

She dashed back into her outfit and ran to the local police station. She burst in, Chat right behind her. “WE KNOW WHERE THE NEXT BOMB WILL BE!!!”

Another chief walked out of the back offices and looked them down. “And how do you know this?”

“The two locations so far have not been related to each other, except that they fall on the same street. If they continue their pattern that they have so far, they will end up at a cafe on-”

“I don’t have time to listen to your stories. They are just theories. Leave the detective work to the professionals.”

Marinette opened her mouth, but closed it again and stalked out of the police station. She could not believe how obstinate they were being. She and Chat walked to the cafe and sat down. 

“I guess that we have to wait until they come?” Chat sounded uncertain.

“I guess so.” Marinette looked down.

They ordered some food, then told the staff to evacuate the cafe, since it was likely that the bombings might come to here. They sat at the table and waited, eating some croissants. 

Several minutes later, a van pulled up and some men stepped out. “Well well well, look what we have here. Only two bombs gone off, and they already found out out plan.”

Chat and Marinette stood, getting into ready positions. “You will not plant another bomb.”

“We are only carrying one bomb. There are several teams that are deploying bombs all up and down the street.”

Marinette smirked. She pulled out her phone and sent an email she had waiting. It had the map, with additional points marked, showing where the bombs would be located, along with the caption “We are at the cafe”

The man scowled. “That was not part of the plan.” He pulled out a knife and started forward.

Chat flipped his baton out and smacked the man in the face. Marinette snapped her whip at a man holding a boxy looking thing. Marinette realized that it was probably the bomb. Then, something happened that the two kids never thought of. The group of 5 total men pulled out guns. Chat and Marinette dove into the cafe and hid behind the wall. They sometimes darted forward and threw a plate or some cutlery at whoever was closest to the bomb, but it was immediately retaliated against with a hail of bullets.

Marinette and Chat looked at each other, both at a loss of what to do. Marinette made her way to Chat and hugged him tight. They both closed their eyes for the fate that they both knew was coming. There was a cry of “Ladybug! Chat Noir!” that sounded strangelt familiar, but Marinette just hugged Chat more, not listening to what was going on outside. Chat snuggled his face into her shoulder, hugging her back. There were a few more gunshots from outside, then things went silent. Marinette knew what that meant. They were leaving before the bomb went off.

A hand suddenly rested on her shoulder, and Marinette screamed. She whirled around and saw the police chief from the train station. “Ladybug? Are you OK? We got your message and came as soon as we could. We got reports that the other sites you mentioned were also targeted, but it was put to an end.”

Marinette smiled. “That’s good. We’re fine, we just got a little… pinned down.”

The police chief smiled. “I will make sure that you both get the support that you need. I heard about what happened at the police station, and I talked to the detective about it. If you had the backup you needed, you would not have been in this mess. I’m sorry.”

Marinette nodded. “Thank you, Chief. That means a lot.”

“You almost died out here. I could not live with myself if that happened.” the chief looked flustered now. “I will go talk to my men outside, if you want to make your mistake.”

*.*.*

Chief Thomas was severely shaken. He had arrived on the scene as the men were advancing to the cafe window, looking in, obviously intent in killing whoever was inside. He rushed up and shot them, non-lethally, and his men took down the rest of the criminals. Thomas then went inside and saw the two heroes, huddled in a corner, hugging each other like they were about to die. It hurt Thomas to know that that was a completely accurate description. 

He sent the two heroes away, and saw to the arrest of the five criminals from the van. He was just finishing up when he saw movement across the street. Two teenagers were walking down the sidewalk, the boy with his arm around the girl. They looked at Thomas, and his breath caught. The girl had the same hair as Ladybug, the same height, and the same light blue eyes. The boy also had the same hair, height and piercing green eyes as Chat Noir. They looked at him and were startled when they saw the recognition in his face. He smiled and put a finger to his lips, saying that he would not tell. Especially when he knew both of them. He often went into the Dupain-Cheng bakery and saw Marinette almost every time he did. And who didn’t know Adrien Agreste?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Blows barrel of angst gun*


	6. discontinued

Attention to anybody who decided to read this, or anyone who actually liked this: I am discontinuing this story. I don't like the direction that it has taken, and I don't like the directions that it can go. This started as me thinking "Ooh, this could be an interesting concept" but it spiraled into a story too dark for the characters I wanted. I might pick it back up, but I will likely keep it down. If anyone would like to take over writing this story, I can see if I can transfer Author rights to them. If not, this story is likely dead. 

Sorry to anyone who enjoyed this, it just isn't my thing.


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